Wilwood brakes?

Ian Hill · 08-26-2011, 08:08 AM

i purchased a stocker late fall last year and went through it completely over the winter. the front two calipers were draging more than i would have liked. i noticed before i removed them that they were not installed with the proper spacers so not only were the pads wearing poorly, but there was also side load on the pistons. this was evident when i disassembled the calipers for inspection and there was a small bit of scoring on the sides of the pistons from the calipers. i put the pistons in a lathe and polished the outside diameters with 400 grit sand paper and lightly hand blended the marks in the bores with 800. the pistons moved freely when tested without the seals. reinstalled the seals and added a liberal coating of brake fluid to every thing before final assembly. I was so impressed by how free everything was i redid the rears as well. the car now rolls about 10 feet just by kicking the bumper! from my experience i would say paying close attention to the caliper alignment to the rotors will extend to the life of the pads, extend the time between rebuilds and internal caliper components. Also as noted in another post, once the piston moved freely in the caliper it seems to allow the pistons to be sucked back a bit when the master cylinder is released after braking. i have no trick return springs or trick calipers and the car rolls for ever.

Ian

08-26-2011, 08:08 AM	#11
Ian Hill Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 216 Likes: 0 Liked 6 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Wilwood brakes? i purchased a stocker late fall last year and went through it completely over the winter. the front two calipers were draging more than i would have liked. i noticed before i removed them that they were not installed with the proper spacers so not only were the pads wearing poorly, but there was also side load on the pistons. this was evident when i disassembled the calipers for inspection and there was a small bit of scoring on the sides of the pistons from the calipers. i put the pistons in a lathe and polished the outside diameters with 400 grit sand paper and lightly hand blended the marks in the bores with 800. the pistons moved freely when tested without the seals. reinstalled the seals and added a liberal coating of brake fluid to every thing before final assembly. I was so impressed by how free everything was i redid the rears as well. the car now rolls about 10 feet just by kicking the bumper! from my experience i would say paying close attention to the caliper alignment to the rotors will extend to the life of the pads, extend the time between rebuilds and internal caliper components. Also as noted in another post, once the piston moved freely in the caliper it seems to allow the pistons to be sucked back a bit when the master cylinder is released after braking. i have no trick return springs or trick calipers and the car rolls for ever. Ian